Ten Tigers of Shaolin (1978)

The righteous Ten Tigers attempt to uphold justice and protect the innocent in a rural Canton town where the local magistrate and a band of crooked fighters plot to destroy the ten heroes.

Ten legendary heroes of Canton get first class treatment in this uniformly outstanding feature. Ten Tigers of Shaolin may be weak on story and characterization, but the kung fu is dynamite!

The Ten Tigers of Shaolin are better known historically as The Ten Tigers of Canton. These martial artists actually existed in 19th century China. In the West, little is known of their exploits, but they are credited with being protectors of justice in a relatively lawless period in Chinese history where public officials were often corrupt. The most famous member was Wong Kai Ying, a potent martial artist who was father to Wong Fei Hung. Fei Hung should be familiar to genre fans as he has been portrayed most famously by Jackie Chan in Drunken Master and Drunken Master II, as well as by Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China series. Ten Tigers of Shaolin marked the first notable film to feature these heroes and its surprising to see that master action director Lau Kar Leung, a kung fu student four generations removed from Wong Kai Ying was not involved. Even more surprising is how good this film is nevertheless. It came out a year before Chang Cheh’s bloody Ten Tigers of Kwantung which featured the same characters portrayed by more famous Shaw Brothers actors such as Alexander Fu Sheng and Ti Lung. While both films are masterful in their own right, Ten Tigers of Shaolin is superior when it comes to quantity and quality of action.

Independent kung fu star and one time Bruce Lee clone, Bruce Leung offers one of his strongest performances as Tiger Tai of the Ten Tigers. The remaining cast, including those who play the other nine Tigers may be less familiar to viewers, but all have extensive experience in the kung fu movie business and mostly perform exceptionally well.

Elementary dialogue and story structure threatens to bog down the film early on, but eventually gives way to incredible kung fu that is virtually non-stop for the last half hour. The story finds the Ten Tigers thwarting several small time crooks and swindlers who decide to join forces under the control of a local magistrate named Yuen San Pao (Lau Dan) in hopes of getting rid of these do-gooders. They fail in an attempt to frame Tiger Tai for rape. The Tigers strike back by using an elaborate and ridiculous scheme of having Chu Sang (Michelle Lai) pose as one of the Emperor’s daughters in order for her to stay at the home of San Pao and frame him for kidnapping. This plot fails when she really is kidnapped by another villain. In an effort to save Chu Sang and avenge the death of a friend at the hands of San Pao, the Ten Tigers storm after the baddies for one long, extended fight to the finish.

Kung fu is king in this film and old school fans who like it straight up without gimmicky tricks or gouts of blood, but with plenty of talent will be happily feasting on this cinematic dish. First off, Bruce Leung goes the extra mile and shows off his versatile skills of powerful kicking and hand work. Plus, his pole fighting isn’t bad either. Actually, I haven’t seen pole fighting by numerous actors this fierce and enjoyable since Gordon Liu appeared with a dozen bamboo poles at the ready in The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1983). The final thirty minutes features extensive use of poles and Wing Chun knives in a flurry of expertly choreographed scenes. Even Hon Gwok Choi who generally plays fools in films such as Crack Shadow Boxers (1977) looks formidable while still providing laughs. His suedo-Drunken boxing and mock whining add color to the already rich fight movements. Also providing a bit of humor and quirkiness to the action is San Kuai (the hunchback in The Buddhist Fist). He plays a crackpot master of internal arts. Kuai and his students try their best to repel the blows of the vengeful Ten Tigers through breathing and concentration, but to no avail. This spiritual boxing is virtually always lampooned in Hong Kong films. It’s also worthwhile and humorous to note that this film takes the art of nutsack handling to a new level. You’ll understand when you see it!

The key to the success of Ten Tigers of Shaolin is the direction and choreography that visually sets up the battles and frames them perfectly. The average take features at least a dozen complex moves and often with a large group of stuntmen or opponents attacking simultaneously. Some of the choreography, such as the synchronized swordsmen with shields is reminiscent of Tong Gaai’s expert work at Shaw Brothers, but without the typical Chang Cheh over-indulgences. Undercranking, trampolines, and other tricks of the trade meant to enhance the performance of actors are either subtlety integrated or not used. If you crave pure, unadulterated kung fu action with a super-satisfying ending, then do not miss this film.